Will Venus Williams Be Charged In Deadly Car Accident?

Tennis superstar Venus Williams was involved in a a fatal car crash back in June that left an elderly man dead. On Dec. 20, she learned what charges she will be facing from the accident.

Venus Williams, 36, was left badly shaken following a June 9 car accident near her home in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The wreck caused the death of 78-year-old Jerome Barson, who was a passenger in a car that hit her. He was hospitalized with critical injuries that he later succumbed to several weeks later. At the time police initially believed she had been at fault for violating his right of way. But the tennis legend has caught a break as on Dec. 20 she learned that she will not be facing any charges related to the deadly crash. The police investigation has determined that she was not at fault in the accident. In a twist, neither was Barson’s wife, who was at the wheel when she T-boned their Hyundai accident into Williams’ 2010 Toyota Sequoia after she entered an intersection.

TMZ reported at the time of the crash that Williams said she was caught in the middle of the intersection because another car — a Nissan Altima — had pulled in front of her, causing her to slow to 5 mph. The site obtained surveillance camera video that shows how the accident went down and it is exactly what she described happened. So the 3rd driver violated the tennis star’s right of way and Barson hit her when the vehicle he was in legally went through the intersection when the stoplight turned green.

Barson’s family has since filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Williams, alleging wrongful death and seeking damaged in excess of $15,000. She was even deposed in the case on Nov. 9. It’s not clear now how the no-fault finding will affect the suit. While Williams was badly shaken in the accident, just over a month later she made it all the way to the women’s finals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

The deadly car accident was the only dark spot in an otherwise amazing year for the Williams sisters. Venus made it to the finale of three grand slams, the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. Sadly she didn’t come away a winner, but at age 37 she is at the top of her game. Serena, 36, won the Australian Open against her sister in January while 10 weeks pregnant and went on to give birth to daughter Olympia on Sept. 1. She then married her baby’s father, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanaian, 36, in a lavish New Orleans wedding on Nov. 16. Now Venus is off the hook in her car accident. What a way to end 2017.

HollywoodLifers, do you think Barson’s family will drop their lawsuit now that Williams wasn’t at fault in the wreck?